Cruising with 11-month old

[YOWmom]

... as well as my husband, 5 year old, and my parents. Not the same as cruising as a couple but fun all the same. Here are a few quick notes:

 

- moving around the ship: Baby was just learning to walk and was super eager to try out her new skills. Fortunately there were lots of wide open spaces for her to roam. She would wake up around 7 and I'd usually take her up to the promenade deck, which was empty that time of day and so I could let her roam free, in and out of the disco and lounges (while hubby and DD #1 slept in). Later in the day, when other areas of the ship were crowded, I just walk up and down the hallway outside our room with her while she made friends with all of the room stewards and other passengers.

 

- napping: occasionally she's fall asleep in the stroller while I did laps around the sun deck, but we mostly took turns sitting with her in our stateroom while she slept. We shifted her schedule slightly so that her afternoon nap was later (sometime between 4 and 6) so she had more stamina for dinner. One night we even took her to the early show, and sat in the front row of the balcony (where there's a large plexi-glass barrier), so she could cruise along the railing in front of our seats and didn't need to be restrained in our lap. She absolutely loved it and the music was so loud that no one would hear her even if she did fuss (though it was mostly squeals of excitement).

 

- playtime: Camp Carnival had playtime for babies under 2 from noon to 2:00 p.m., but only on sea days. Parents may stay with the child, or drop them off for $6/hour. We went with her the first time and she loved being able to move freely and check out all the toys, and on the second sea day, we dropped her off for about an hour. I think it went ok though when I picked her up, the staff were wheeling her around in the stroller which kind of defeated the purpose of "free play". The only other time they offered babysitting was from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., which was pretty much useless to us, because by 10 p.m., I was ready for bed!!

 

- dining: We took her to the MDR 6 of the 7 nights (and only twice did I need to get dessert to go). I brought jars of baby food with me, but it was also a good opportunity to try finger food versions of food she's already tried (did not want to deal with possible allergic reactions so we didn't introduce any new foods on the cruise). She loved feeding herself rice, steamed veggies, fruit, salmon, etc. and it was also a good activity to keep her occupied while we ate. The dining room staff were great as well, and every night the maitre d' would come and check on her, and would pick her up and take her for a stroll around the dining room.

 

- ports: we deliberately chose a cruise with port activities that would be easily accessible. In Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk, we just hung out at the beach (in GT the beach is right at the dock), in San Juan we did our own walking tour of the downtown/Old San Juan area, found the Starbucks (with a change table! these are few and far between on the ship...), and did some shopping. St. Thomas was the only place where we used the carseat, to go to Magen's Bay beach (which we had visited before). We took a local taxi and when we got off the boat, we just asked the dispatcher for a van instead of an open air taxi so we could install the carseat, and they sent a large van just for the 6 of us ($10 pp), and the same driver came and picked us up afterwards.

 

- gear: I tried the duck tub from Target, but since she's such an active baby, she sat in it for all of two minutes before crawling out, so it didn't really work for us. Shower wasn't a problem without it - I'd just sit her in the corner and let her play with the showerhead while I washed her off. We also arrived in Miami a day early so we could shop for diapers, baby food, etc. as I didn't want to have to fly with all that stuff. I probably over-packed clothes for her but didn't want to have to do laundry on board so it worked out ok.

 

Anyway, this went on longer than I intended but hope some if this is useful :o. Would be happy to answer any questions...

[im4clowns]

thanks for all the tips....this is great! We leave Saturday on the Disney Magic with our 14 month old DD.....It will just be me, DH and DD. Disney does have a nursery for under 3 so we plan to try it for a few hours but otherwise we will spend time together...

 

I just found out about the single pedialyte packages in the mail...got a great coupon so plan to buy some to take with us.....

 

thanks again!

[Rand0mTh0ughts]

Thanks for all the tips!!!

 

Our DS was 6 months on our cruise in Aug. and will be 14 months on our cruise in April - I am loving this thread!

 

We brought an inflatable pool to the deck with us on sea days for DS to play in. We got that idea off this board. We got SO MANY compliments on it - and DS had a blast. We spent wonderfully lazy afternoons on the pool deck - He played on then napped with me on the lounge chairs - a delightfully cuddly change from our home nap routine. We were on the Carnival Freedom and set up next to the kids club water balloon set up - under the entrance to the slide. We were under the slide deck, so not in the sun, and right next to the sink where they fill water balloons - so we had fresh water for the pool. We dumped the water in the drains found near the railing.

 

Also - We loved our baby carrier - I took it on all of our excursions and actually never used the stroller on the cruise (it worked for us.)

[J's Gal]

Loving all the advice, thanks!

 

And we have officially booked our cruise! We are so excited we can hardly stand it!!!

[mandiecandie5]

Rand0m Thoughts--thanks for your tips, how did you transport your 6month baby during excursions or any taxi rides (to/from airport, etc). Did you bring a car seat? Any other tips for bringing a 6 month old? :)

 

marie73--did you also bring your stroller on-shore or just car seat and carrier?

[luvmy2babies]

We are traveling on the Grandeur of the Seas in June with our 7 year-old and 6 month old on a groupo cruise with our church and two other churches. This thread has been the most helpful I've read so far. We cruised in 2007 with my daughter at age 4. This is our 2nd cruise and will be our first with an infant. I want to thank everyone for their replies.

 

Can someone tell me how many diapers and wipes they took and how they packed them? I traveled with my daughter when she was 18mo but not on a cruise. Could have gotten more easily if I'd run out. I actually brought way way too many then. I was thinking about multiplying his daily use by 8 and bringing 8 days worth for the 6 days we'll be away. Do you all think that will be enough or should I bring 10 days worth?

 

Also, we're leaving from Fort Lauderdale and we're flying there from NC. What's the best way to transport a family like ours (dh, me, dd age 7 and ds age 6mo) from airport to cruise port? Is there anywhere to conveniently buy diapers near the port or should I just bring them from home? Our flights lands at 11:35am and the boat leaves at 5pm.

[YOWmom]

 

marie73--did you also bring your stroller on-shore or just car seat and carrier?

 

yes, we brought the stroller too. I bought a Quinny Zapp specifically for this cruise as it folds up really really small (my other stroller is a huge jogger). Since we only went from the taxi to the beach to the taxi (in St. Thomas), lugging the carseat wasn't too much trouble. I also brought a ring sling but only used it a couple of times when she got fussy in the stroller and for the muster drill (which worked perfectly - no waiting for the elevators afterwards!).

[Penguiiin]

We took our first cruise when our granddaughter was 6 months old and debated the carseat question.

 

she was still using the infant seat at the time.

 

All the information I could find said that most of the taxis in Mexico (cozumel/calica) dont have seat belts or dont have working seat belts. And the only seatbelt law was for the driver of the taxi. So although it was not the safest thing to do we opted to just hold her in our laps in her infant seat.

 

This time she will be 20 months when we go and we are going to do excursions with the cruise line transportation so we will have the carseat just in case. If you are transported by motorcoach, there is usually no way to use a carseat but if it is van transportation there should be seatbelts available.

 

Although we decided to hold our infant in our laps on our first cruise, I know that this is not safe but it was the decision we made at the time.

[bamaphotopro]

You've gotten a lot of great advice! :) I just wanted to add some of my experience since I'm fresh off the Freedom of the Seas with a 14 month old.

 

I did not bring the Target tub. I didn't have a problem bringing my son into the shower with me. In fact, the only problem was not having my hubby there to take my son OUT of the shower. I relied on my DD for this part. Perhaps the duck would've been a better solution to our situation? ;) We had access to a baby pool (i.e. swim diapers allowed), but I would absolutely bring the tub if you don't have access to a baby pool. It's amazing how many HOURS a baby will splash around in a few inches of water. There's a lot to be said about enterainment value! :D

 

Okay, I am soon-to-be Grandpa who has booked a cruise for my entire family next January (as a belated Christmas gift). At that time, our Jackson will be around 9 months old.

 

So I found the Munchkin Duck Tub on Target.com, and plan on taking one along with us. But my question is ... how (and where) do you fill and (more importantly) empty the duck tub after use as a pool ... even if using swim diapers, you must be sanitary about disposal.

[QTMichele]

Okay, I am soon-to-be Grandpa who has booked a cruise for my entire family next January (as a belated Christmas gift). At that time, our Jackson will be around 9 months old.

 

So I found the Munchkin Duck Tub on Target.com, and plan on taking one along with us. But my question is ... how (and where) do you fill and (more importantly) empty the duck tub after use as a pool ... even if using swim diapers, you must be sanitary about disposal.

 

 

Congrats, Grandpa! :) How exciting for you and your family. We have our own Jackson - good name. :)

 

The tub can be filled using buckets of water from the outdoor shower. I wouldn't fill it with more than a few buckets of water to keep it easier to manage. You can dump the water in the shower, or ask a crew member where a utility sink is and dump it there. :)